Mechanism for automatically operating doors.



R. WRIGHT.

MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY UPERAIING DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED IIIIIE Ia. IsI I.

1,251,724. Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l. I

R. WRIGHT.

MECHANISM FOR AUTQMATICALLY OPERATING DOORS. APPLlcmoN r|Lo1uNE13.19 17.

2 SHEETS-'SHEET 2.

1,251,724. v Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

KWK WmGHT UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

m WRIGHT, 0F OMAHA, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM M. KING,

' OF OMAHA, NEBBASKA.

lMEG-HANISE FOB AUTOMATICALLY OPERATING DOORS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

. Application illed June 13, 1917. Serial No. 174,578.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, RINK WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Omaha,

in the county of Douglas and State of Ne'- v braska, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Mechanism for AutomaticallyOperating Doors, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improved mechanism for automatically operatingdoors, and has for its primary object to provide simple and positivelyoperating means for opening and Closing the door of a garage or similarstructure upon the entrance or egress of an automobile or other vehicleto or from the same.

It is another object of my invention to provide in A combination with avertically movable door and supporting trackways therefor, endlesschains connected to one end of the door to move the same toits open andclosed positions, and means for actuating said chains including frictionoperated rollers driven by the rear wheels of the vehicle It is alsoanother important object of the invention to provided a mechanism forthe above purpose, which is relatively simple in its construction andarrangement and may be readily installed in the building or garage atcomparatively small cost.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in thenovel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts tobe hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view, the door being in partly open position;

Fig. 2 is al vertical section through one of the door jambe, the doorbeing in its closed position;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view illustrating the mounting of the frictionrollers.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 designated the vertical doorjambs secured in the structure at opposite sides of the door opening 'inany suitable manner. These jambs may be either of metal or wood, and tothe inner face of each jamb, parallel ver- 'tical guide cleats 6 aresecured. A block 7 is also fixed to the inner face of each j amb at itsupper end, and extends inwardly from the outer cleat 6. To this blockand to thev Patented Jan. 1,1918. i

upper end of the inner guide cleat 6, the I outer end of a metal track 8is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured. This track is in theform of asingle metal core bent upon itself to provide spaced parallel portions.The

lower edge of the block 7 is obliquely inclined and spaced from the endof the inner cleat 6, whereby an inclined channel 9 is formed, saidchannels constituting 'a' continuation of the track 8 and the guidewayformed by the spaced cleats 6. The inner ends of the metal tracks 8 aresupported by the hangers 10 which are suitably secured to the ceilingbeams, said hangers being also connected to each other at their-"innerends spring 16 is attached, the upper ends of said springs beingsuitably secured to the outer sides of the j amb. These springs normallyact by contractile force to pull the door upwardlv between the ambs 5.

17 designates spaced parallel floor beams which extend between the jambs5 and beneath the iioor surface both interiorly and exteriorly of thedoor opening. Alshaft 18 is rotatably mounted in these beams and in thelower ends of the jambs 5. Sprockets 19 are fixed upon the extremitiesof this shaft and connected by the endless chains20 to similar sprockets21 mounted upon the outer side faces of the jambs 5 at their upper ends.One stretch of each chain is suitably attached, as at 22, to one of theroller trunnions 14.

In the parallel beams 17 and at each end' l i thereof, the spacedparallel shafts 23 and 24 respectively are journaled. Spaced roll- 100.ers25 of wood or other friction material are ixed upon each of theseshafts. The shafts 23 and 24 are connected by an endless chain 26ltraversing sprockets 27 and 28 respecwill be understood` that theconcrete or other 110 tively, secured upon said shafts. An addi-Hooringmaterial entirelycoversthe beams 17, the shafts 23 and 24 androllers 25 and the several operating ,chains being suitably incased, andthe peripheries of the rollers 25 projecting slightly above the floorsurface..

In the operation of the apparatus, it will be understood from the abovedescription that when the machine is either entering or leaving thegarage, the front wheels pass over the rollers 25 and the rear wheelswhich exert the driving force are positioned upon said rollers. Thefrictional contact of the wheel tires with these wood rollers 25 drivessaid rollers in a direction indicated by the arrow, thereby rotatingthey shaft 24, and through the medium of the chain 30, the shaft 18.This shaft in turn imparts movement to the endless chains 20 in thedirection indicated by the arrow, so that the stretches of the chains towhich the trunnions 14 are attached are moved upwardly, thus forcing thedoor upwardly between the door jambs. The upper pair of rollers 13 movethrough the inclined channels 9 and upon the tracks 8, as the lowerrollers 13 move upwardly between the cleats 6 until the door is finallydisposed substantially in a horizontal position between the tracks 8. Inthis movement of the door to its open position, the springs 16 act ascounterbalancing means to sustain the weight of the door as the upperwheels 11 move inwardly upon the tracks 8, so that but a smallproportion of the weight of the door will devolve upon the chains 20 andthe door will move freely to its open position with a minimumexpenditure of power. In the full open position of the door, the upperrollers 13 strike the inner ends of the tracks 8 and the rear wheels ofthe vehicle will then move olf of the rollers 25. After the machine haspassed through the door opening and whenthe rear wheels again come intoposition uponA the other set of rollers 25, the operation of the vehicleengine is reversed, thereby reversing the movement of the chains 20 tolower the door to its closed position. In

leaving the garage, when the drive wheels of the machine are disposedupon the inner set of rollers, the operation of the engine is againreversed so as to raise the door to its open position. When the door isdisposed at the limit of its inward movement on the tracks 8, the drivewheels of the machine will move backwardly o of the rollers 25, and themachine is then driven forwardly through the door opening. It will,however, be understood, that if desired, the inner chains 26 and 30 canbe twisted so that it will not be necessary to reverse the rotation ofthe drive wheels. When the door is in its fully closed position and thelower edge thereof is in tight contact with the floor surface, the drivewheels of the vehicle move off of the rollers. The door, when closed,

is securely held against displacement by heavy winds and, as the loweredge of the door is in close abutting' contact with the floor, a ysnowand water-tight closure is obtained. By the provision of thecounterbalancing springs, the door may at any time be very easily openedor closed by hand. In the automatic operation of the door, the driver isnot required to leave his seat in the vehicle. The doorfmay, of course,be constructed in various sizes and will operate satisfactorily,irrespective of the height of the ceiling from the garage floor.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it

is believed that the construction, manner of operation, and severaladvantages of the invention will be clearly understood. The apparatusmay be constructed and installed at relatively small cost, and while Ihave referred to the same as being particularly designed for use inconnection with automobile garages, it is apparent, of course, that theinvention may also be adapted to warehouses and various other analogousstructures. As the mechanism includes comparatively few elements whichare all of simple form, it will be appreciated that the device will bevery reliable and positive in its operation. I have above set forth aparticular mounting and arrangement of the friction driven rollers 25and their connection with the door operating shaft 18, but it ismanifest that in practice, various alternative arrangements of theserollers and of the driving connections may be utilized. The form,construction, and relative arrangement of the several other elements isalso susceptible of considerable modification and I, therefore, reservethe privilege of adopting all such legitima'te changes as may be fairlyembodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I desire to claim andsecure by Letters Patent is: Y

l. The combination with a vertically movable door and trackwaystherefor, of rollers mounted in spaced relation to thedoor openinginteriorly and exteriorly thereof and adapted to be driven by thefrictional engagement of the drive wheels of a motor-vehicle therewith,means connected to the door to move the same to its open or closedpositions, and operating connections between said rollers and said dooroperating means.

2. The combination with a vertically movable door and trackwaystherefor, of rollers mounted in spaced relation to the door openinginteriorly and exteriorly thereof and adapted to be driven by thefrictional en gagementof the drive wheels of a motor vehicle therewith,an endless chain having one stretch thereof connected to the lower endof the door, and actuating means for said chain operatively connected tosaid rollers.

3. The combination with a vertically movable .door and trackwaystherefor, of -rollers mounted in spaced relation yto the door openinginteriorly and exteriorly thereof. and adapted to be driven by therictional en# gagement of the drive wheels of a motor .vehicletherewith, a shaft mounted in the lower ends of the door jambs,vertically disposed endless chains operatively connected l to the endsof said shaft, one stretch of each chain being connected to the lowerend of the door, and actuating means for said shaft operativelyconnected to the rollers.

4. The combination with a vertically mo'vable door and trackwaystherefor, of rollers mounted in spaced relation to the door openinginteriorly and exteriorly thereof and adapted to be driven by thefrictional engagement of the drive wheels of a motor vehicle therewith,counterbalancing springs connected to said door, a shaft mounted in thelower ends of the door jambs, vertically disposed endless chainsoperatively connected to the ends of said shaft, one stretch of eachchain being connected to the lower vdoor jambs having` guideways, tracksextending from the upper ends of the ideways, a door mov-able upon thetracks 1n the guideways, said jambs having vertically eX- tending slotstherein, trunnions xed to the lower end of the door and movable in saidslots, an endless Vchain mounted upon the 4 under side of each j amb andhaving one of its stretches connected to one of said trunnions, rollersmounted in spaced relation to the door opening interiorly and exteriorlythereof and adapted to be driven by the frictional engagement of thedrive wheels of the vehicle therewith, and operating connections betweensaid rollers and the endless chains.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

RINK WRIGHT.

Witnesses: A

GEO. H. EMBREE, GLENN Conner.

